Public domain & duration of copyrights

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Works in the Public Domain

Let’s say you need to copy something for a project you’re working on, and you remember that most materials are protected by copyright. Then you recall all the damages and attorney’s fees that may result from a copyright infringement lawsuit. What are your options?

Where you can find work in the Public Domain

There are many websites with enormous data bases of works in the Public Domain. When shopping at sites that profess to contain Public Domain material, you should remember an old Roman warning: “Caveat Emptor.” It means “buyer beware.” There is always the risk that some work is fully protected by copyright and wound up in a purported Public Domain database by mistake or fraud.

Here is a collection of Public Domain sites where you can find anything from novels and poems to music, photos, and graphics that you can copy without permission: Public Domain Resources.